Safety device and tool

ABSTRACT

A safety device includes: a tool which performs a predetermined operation through an operation of an actuator; a mounting tool worn by a user operating the tool; a transmission unit which is provided in one of the tool or the mounting tool, and transmits a wireless signal in which a transmission direction is set to have high directional characteristic with respect to a certain direction; a reception unit which is provided in the other of the tool or the mounting tool, and receives the wireless signal transmitted by the transmission unit; and a controller which controls the tool on a condition that the reception unit recognizes the wireless signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELAYED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2015-205056 filed on Oct. 16, 2015, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a safety device and a tool.

BACKGROUND

In the related art, there have been known various inventions whichcontrol an operation of an electric tool and the like. For example,there is a configuration that a wireless communication is possiblebetween the electric tool and a management device, and when both devicesare separated to have a distance exceeding a certain value, the wirelesscommunication becomes impossible, and a motor of the electric tool isswitched into a rotation inhibition mode (Japanese Patent No. 5537106).

In the relevant invention, when the electric tool is stolen by a thirdperson to be moved to a place separated from the management device, thetool can become in an unserviceable state. Therefore, it is possible toprevent stealing.

There has been known a configuration that in an electric tool having ahigh stealing suppression effect, a person not wearing a properauthentication device cannot use the tool (Japanese Patent No. 4678199).

Specifically, the electric tool includes an authentication circuit, andthe authentication circuit performs an authentication using anidentification code between the authentication circuit and theauthentication device (wrist watch and the like) mounted on the wrist ofthe user. On the base of the authentication result, a permission isgiven with respect to the operation of the electric tool. Intransmitting and receiving the identification code, the body of the usermay be used as a transmission path, or RFID which is a short-rangewireless communication may be used to transmit and receive a signal.

There has been known a configuration that in an invention using a tablesaw as an embodiment, it is intended that a contact of a human body witha rotating saw blade is prevented in advance (Japanese Patent No.4429616).

In the relevant invention, for example, the distance from a detectiondevice to an object and the speed of the object approaching thedetection device side (circular saw side) are detected by using aDoppler radar and the like, a case where the object approaches at aspeed exceeding the speed presumed as an normal work operation isdetermined as an abnormal situation, and the circular saw is stoppedbefore the object contacts the circular saw.

There is described an invention in which when the user has a headmounted display mounted thereon, and views the vicinity of the tablesaw, a camera of the head mounted display obtains an outside image, andthe table saw is recognized to call attention to the user (JP2014-120786 A).

As described above, for various purposes such as the stealing preventionand the danger avoidance, the operation of the tool is controlled basedon the positional relation, the behavior, and the like, between the tooland the user.

The tool having electricity, air pressure, and other various kinds ofpower as an operation source generally has high output, and thus anerroneous use method causes a danger, and it is necessary to be cautiousabout handling. Since these are understood well by the user, a usualuser performs the operation very carefully in the use of the tool. Thecareful operation is generally based on the premise that the user viewsthe work area or the tool.

Various types of tools such as a nail driving machine, a circular saw,and an electric drill are used in various construction sites and workenvironments. In a case where such tools are operated with a usepurpose, the work is carefully performed while the user has a care aboutan accident as described above. However, during a work, the user mayperform another work at the same time with his eyes turned away from thetool. At this time, for example, the tool held by a hand is crushed intoa wall to erroneously perform the operation, and thus the object isbroken. When the tool is tangled in clothes, the operation may beperformed erroneously, and the user may be hurt.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the abovesituation, and an object thereof is to suppress an operation of a toolwhen a user is not conscious of the tool being used, so that anoccurrence of an accident or an injury is prevented in advance.

The safety device of the present disclosure may have the followingconfiguration.

The safety device includes: a tool which performs a predeterminedoperation through an operation of an actuator; a mounting tool worn by auser operating the tool; a transmission unit which is provided in one ofthe tool or the mounting tool, and transmits a wireless signal in whicha transmission direction is set to have high directional characteristicwith respect to a certain direction; a reception unit which is providedin the other of the tool or the mounting tool, and receives the wirelesssignal transmitted by the transmission unit; and a controller whichcontrols the tool on a condition that the reception unit recognizes thewireless signal.

The safety device of the present disclosure may have the followingconfiguration.

The safety device includes: a tool which performs a predeterminedoperation through an operation of an actuator; a mounting tool worn by auser operating the tool; a reception unit which is provided in one ofthe tool or the mounting tool, and receives a wireless signal in which areceiving direction is set to have high directional characteristic withrespect to a certain direction; a transmission unit which is provided inthe other of the tool or the mounting tool, and transmits the wirelesssignal which is receivable by the reception unit; and a controller whichcontrols the tool on a condition that the reception unit recognizes thewireless signal.

The safety device of the present disclosure may have the followingconfiguration.

The safety device includes: a tool which performs a predeterminedoperation through an operation of an actuator, a mounting tool worn by auser operating the tool; and a controller which controls the tool on acondition that it is detected that the tool and the mounting tool areopposed to each other within a certain range.

The safety device of the present disclosure may have the followingconfiguration.

The safety device includes: a tool which performs a predeterminedoperation through an operation of an actuator; an imaging unit providedin the tool; and a controller which controls the tool based oninformation obtained by the imaging unit.

The tool of the present disclosure may have the following configuration.

The tool performs a predetermined operation through an operation of anactuator and includes: a communication unit which performs communicationwith a mounting tool worn by a user operating the tool through awireless signal; a controller which is capable of executing an operationdifferent from the predetermined operation on a condition that thewireless signal is recognized between the tool and the mounting tool, orit is detected that the tool and the mounting tool are opposed to eachother within a certain range.

The tool using power is useful as a device having high workability,while there is a danger that the operation is performed in the stateunintended by the user. For example, there is a case where while thetool is operated in a narrow workplace, the tool contacts an objectwhich is not an original object to drive a nail erroneously. In themiddle of moving while holding the tool with a hand, a force is appliedfrom an external side, for example, the tool is pulled by an air hose asan operation source, which may cause a nail to be driven to anunintended object. An aspect of such an erroneous operation occurs whenthe user is not conscious of the operation of the tool.

In the present disclosure, the tool is operated (the operationinhibition state of the tool is released) with a state where the userviews the tool, or it is assumed that the user views the tool set as anoperation condition of the tool. Therefore, it is possible to preventthe above-described erroneous operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a safety deviceaccording to this embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a front perspective view illustrating an example of amounting tool used in this embodiment

FIG. 2B is a side perspective view illustrating the example of themounting tool used in this embodiment;

FIG. 2C is a plan view illustrating the example of the mounting toolused in this embodiment;

FIG. 2D is a front view illustrating the example of the mounting toolused in this embodiment;

FIG. 2E is a side view illustrating the example of the mounting toolused in this embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a correspondence relationbetween the mounting tool and a tool according to this embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the mounting toolaccording to this embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the tool according tothis embodiment;

FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a use stateof the safety device according to this embodiment;

FIG. 6B is an explanatory diagram of an operation state of the safetydevice according to this embodiment; and

FIG. 6C is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a use stateof a safety device according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, the description will be given about an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a safety device 1according to the present disclosure. The safety device 1 includes a tool2 and a mounting tool 3 provided as a separate body from the tool 2. Thetool 2 performs a predetermined operation by a drive part 4 including anactuator operated by air pressure, electricity, and another powersource.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which the tool 2 is configured as anail driving machine. The nail driving machine includes the drive part 4having a plunger operated by an electric motor and a compression spring.The drive part 4 performs driving through the operation of a motor orthe control of releasing a spring force.

The tool 2 includes a controller 6 executing a program stored in amemory 5, and the controller 6 is configured to be electricallyconnected with the drive part 4, a contact switch 7, a trigger switch 8,an authentication notifier 9, and an infrared receiver 10.

The tool 2 according to this embodiment is configured as a nail drivingmachine which can be operated with one hand, and is configured to drivea nail into a predetermined position. One operation condition of thetool 2 is a state where the injection portion of the nail is pushed to adriving target object, and the tool 2 includes a contact arm fordetecting the pushed state. The contact arm is a general safetymechanism used in the nail driving machine, and is configured to beretreated to a main body side by pushing the driving target object. Thecontact switch 7 is a switch which detects the retreat of the contactaim, and is provided in order that the controller 6 determines whetherthe contact aim is retreated.

The trigger switch 8 is a switch which is opened and closed inconjunction with a trigger lever operated when injecting a nail, and isprovided in order that the controller 6 detects the operation of thetrigger lever. The authentication notifier 9 displays a result of anauthentication process performed by the communication between the tool 2and the mounting tool 3 by the control of the controller 6. Theauthentication notifier 9 includes a light emitting element such as LED,a piezoelectiic element generating a notification sound, and anothernotification unit.

The controller 6 is connected with the infrared receiver 10 as areception unit which receives an infrared signal as a kind of wirelesssignal. A light receiving element of infrared rays included by theinfrared receiver 10 is provided in the center of a head portion 17 of ahousing disposed on the opposite side of the injection part of the nail.The light receiving element is disposed to received the infrared signalincident on the substantially hemispherical area which is centered onthe head portion 17 of the housing.

The controller 6 is a control unit which performs the authenticationprocess or the determination process on whether the infrared signalreceived through the infrared receiver 10 is a signal transmitted by themounting tool 3, and permits or limits the driving of the drive part 4based on these conditions.

The mounting tool 3 is formed in a shape of eyeglasses (includinggoggles) as illustrated in FIGS. 2A to 2E, for example. FIG. 2A is afront perspective view of the mounting tool 3 used in this embodiment.FIG. 2B is a side perspective view of the mounting tool 3. FIG. 2C is aplan view of the mounting tool 3. FIG. 2D is a front view of themounting tool 3. FIG. 2E is a side view of the mounting tool 3. Themounting tool 3 is provided with a controller 12 including a memory 11,a mounting detector 13, and an infrared transmitter 14. The programexecuted by the controller 12 included in the controller of the mountingtool 3 and unique identification information set in the mounting tool 3(authentication information W used for pairing with the tool 2) arestored in the memory 11.

The mounting tool 3 formed in a shape of eyeglasses includes a lensframe 15 having lens mounted thereon, and temples 16 attached on theright and left sides of the lens frame 15. The infrared transmitter 14as a transmission unit of the infrared rays which is one kind of thewireless signal is provided in the tip of the temple 16 to which thelens frame 15 is joined. In a case where the mounting tool 3 is mountedon the face of a user, the infrared transmitter 14 is disposed totransmit the infrared signal forward from the face of a wearer. In thisembodiment, the infrared transmitter 14 (14 a and 14 b) is provided ineach tip of the right and left temples 16 and 16.

For example, when the light emitting element (LED and the like) formingthe infrared transmitter 14 is contained in a hole or a duct having anopening provided in the end portion, the infrared radiation range islimited (adjusted) so that the infrared rays can be radiated in a rangenarrower than the directional characteristic of the light emittingelement. That is, by setting an angle (range) of radiating the infraredray to be narrow, a transmitting direction can be set such that thedevice has a high directional characteristic. In the above-describeddevice which receives the infrared lays, a receiving direction may beset to have a high directional characteristic in such a manner that thelight receiving element and the like is contained in a hole or a ducthaving an opening provided in the end portion, and the infraredreception range is set to be narrow. The case can produce the sameeffect as a case of limiting (adjusting) the infrared radiation range.

The mounting detector 13 which detects whether the mounting tool 3 ismounted on the face is provided in the center of the lens frame 15. Asthe mounting detector 13, a non-contact sensor using reflection of theinfrared rays is used, and is configured to detect the closeness to theface and determine whether the mounting tool 3 is present. Instead ofthe non-contact sensor, a conduction sensor which detects the contactwith skin may be used, and the type or the arrangement position of themounting detector 13 is not limited to the example.

The tool 2 and the mounting tool 3 are configured such that the pairingis performed between both devices. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagramillustrating an embodiment of the pairing.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example in which the pairing is performed betweenone mounting tool 3 and two or more tools 2 (2 a, 2 b . . . ). Thepairing is a process of registering the authentication information ofthe mounting tool 3 (unique identification information stored in thememory 11) in the tool 2 (or, as another example, a process ofregistering the unique identification information of the tool in themounting tool).

The tool 2 according to this embodiment is configured to perform theoperation of each tool such as an operation of driving a nail only inthe case of receiving a signal from the mounting tool 3 paired inadvance. Therefore, even in a case where a signal from the mounting toolis received, but the signal is sent by a mounting tool not paired, theoperation of driving a nail and the like is not performed.

When a plurality of mounting tools are configured to be paired withrespect to one tool as described above, a plurality of workers can shareone tool. In a case where the plurality of mounting tools are pairedwith one tool in advance as above, the mounting tool which permits anoperation based on the communication with the tool may be configured tobe selected or switched by the tool side. With such a configuration,although another mounting tool completing the pairing is present nearthe tool, it can be prevented that another mounting tool except themounting tool of the user is authenticated to be operated. Therefore, itis possible to improve a safety.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the content of a control process ofthe mounting tool 3 after the pairing with the tool 2 is ended. When apower source (not illustrated) of the mounting tool 3 is turned on, thecontrol process starts (S1), and the controller 12 reads theauthentication information W from the memory 11 (S2).

Next, the controller 12 determines, based on the information from themounting detector 13, whether the mounting tool 3 is mounted on thehuman body (S3). In a case where it is determined that the mounting tool3 is mounted on the human body, the authentication information W istransmitted through the infrared transmitter 14 (S4). In a case where itis determined that the mounting tool is not mounted on the human body,the authentication information W is not transmitted, and thedetermination process is repeated until the mounting tool 3 is mountedon the human body.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation process of the tool 2.

When the power source (not illustrated) of the tool 2 is turned on, thecontrol process starts (S10), and the controller 6 reads theauthentication information W from the memory 5 (S11). The authenticationinformation W is information based on the unique identificationinformation obtained from the mounting tool 3 through the pair processwith the mounting tool 3.

In a case where the authentication information W is not stored in thememory 5, a process is performed that the following operation processesrequiring the authentication are stopped, and an alarm that the pairingis necessary is notified to the user (S12). As another embodiment, thetool may be configured as a device which can selectively execute anoperation requiring the authentication and the conventional use methodnot requiring the authentication. In this case, the notification or thelike about whether to select the conventional use method is performed.

In a case where the authentication information W is successfully read inthe above process (S11), the controller 6 performs a check process aboutwhether the trigger switch 8 is turned off, and the contact switch 7 isturned off (S13). That is, it is checked as an initial state whether thenail driving machine does not contact a driving target member, and atrigger is not operated.

In a case where the trigger switch 8 and the contact switch 7 are turnedon at the time of turning on the power source, and the process iscontinued, the tool may be operated in the next process regardless ofthe intention of the user, which causes a danger. The check process isintended to prevent the danger. For this reason, first of all, it ischecked as an initial state of the tool whether the trigger switch 8 andthe contact switch 7 are turned off.

In a case where it is checked in the above process that the triggerswitch 8 and the contact switch 7 are turned off, the controller 6starts a process of receiving the infrared rays through the infraredreceiver 10 (S14). In a case where the infrared receiver 10 cannotreceive the infrared signal, or the received information is differentfrom the authentication information W of the paired mounting tool in theprocess, a process routine followed by the above process (S11) isrepeated (S15).

In a case where it is determined that the information received in theabove process is the authentication information W of the paired mountingtool, next, the controller 6 performs a check process about whether thetrigger switch 8 is turned on, and the contact switch 7 is turned on(S16). In a case where the condition is satisfied, the drive part 4performs the driving process (S17). In a case where the condition of theabove process (S16) is not satisfied, a process routine followed by theabove process (S13) is repeated.

The above series of processes (S10 to S17) are intended to perform thedriving process of the drive part 4 only in a state where the pairedtool 2 and mounting tool 3 establish the communication through theinfrared rays. That is, in a case where the communication between thetool 2 and the mounting tool 3 is interrupted immediately before thedriving process, the driving process is not performed. As long as thesame effect can be obtained, another method except the above processingprocedure can be used without any problem.

An object of the safety device according to this embodiment is toimprove a safety when a predetermined operation of the tool (an originaloperation of the tool such as a nailing and a screw) is performedthrough the above-described paired mounting tool and tool. However,regardless of the above object or embodiment, it is possible to controlthe tool to perform an operation different from the predeterminedoriginal operation of the tool according to another object and usage.

For example, in a state where the safety is considered, and thecommunication between the mounting tool and the tool is established, itis possible to perform a control to start or stop the operation based onthe trigger operation, a control to set the tool to a standby (sleep)mode or to return the tool from the standby (sleep) mode based on thecommunication with the mounting tool, a control to operate the operationmode of the tool based on the communication with the mounting tool, acontrol to turn on a light and the like of the tool based on thecommunication with the mounting tool, and the other various controlsrelating to the operation of the tool.

As well as these various controls are independently performed, it ispossible to perform the combination of the various controls. Aconfiguration may be made in which the execution or non-execution ofthese controls can be selected by the on/off operation of the user.

Based on the establishment of the pairing, the establishment of thepairing may be notified to the user by activating the notification unitwhich is mounted on the tool or the mounting tool and uses a display ora sound. Based on the establishment of the pairing, the remainingbattery power of the tool may be displayed, or an announcement to urgecharging may be issued.

When using the tool, a member to be pressed is often pushed with a handnot holding the tool, so that the both hands are full. Thus, it isdifficult to change the operation mode or to perform an operation suchas lighting and the like in the middle of a work. However, when thetechnology of the present disclosure is used, the switch is performedwithout operating a specific portion with a hand, and thus workefficiency can be improved.

FIG. 6A illustrates an aspect when the tool (nail driving machine) towhich the present disclosure is applied is used. The user H grips ahandle grip of the tool 2 a with any one of the right and left hands,the injection outlet of the tool 2 a is brought in contact with apredetermined position on the driving target object (not illustrated),and the trigger lever is operated with a finger of the hand griping thehandle grip to perform the operation of injecting a nail. The user Hwears the mounting tool 3 a configured in the above-described eyeglassesshape.

FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the usestate of the safety device according to this embodiment, and illustratesan example in which a nail is horizontally injected into the drivingtarget object such as a wall or a pillar disposed perpendicularly. In acertain working situation, a nail may be injected in a ceiling directionor a floor direction. However, in the case of assuming the usual usestate, the direction of the injection outlet (injection direction) iswithin a range having a certain angle centered on a sight line directionof the user or a direction to which the face is directed. In the case ofassuming the usual use state, the head portion 17 of the housing whichis the opposite end to the injection outlet is present in the visiblerange from the user H. Therefore, in a case where the head portion 17 ofthe housing is present within the user's field of view, it can beassumed that the tool is in a proper use state.

FIG. 6B is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation state of thesafety device according to this embodiment, and is an explanatorydiagram illustrating an infrared radiation range 19 in which theeyeglasses-shaped mounting tool 3 a mounted on the user H radiatesinfrared rays. The infrared radiation range 19 is a conical area whichis radially wide in a certain angle centered on the light emittingelement.

In this embodiment, assumed that the infrared radiation range 19 is arange of the user H's field of view, in a case where the head portion 17of the housing is present in the infrared radiation range 19, it isassumed that the user H visually recognize the object, and the tool ispermitted to be operated. That is, when an infrared receiving part 18provided in the head portion 17 of the housing receives the infraredrays radiated from the mounting tool 3 a, the tool is permitted to beoperated.

In some cases, the direction of the injection outlet is inclined 90degrees from the sight line (or a direction of the face). However, sincethe cases mean a state where the tool is viewed directly from the side,the cases belong to a considerably special use method although there isthe case of performing the use method practically. Therefore, in a casewhere the tool is permitted to be used in such a state, the safetymechanism using the pairing between the mounting tool and the tool maybe released to use the conventional use method.

FIG. 6C is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a use stateof a safety device according to another embodiment, and illustrates acase where the mounting tool 3 b mounted on the user H is formed as abadge attached on a breast of a shirt. When the user H wears themounting tool 3 b on the breast of the shirt and the like, the mountingtool 3 b is directed to front direction of a body (breast). In thismanner, the infrared signal is radiated from the badge in a certainrange of the front direction of the body. In a case where there is thepaired tool 2 b receiving the infrared signal in the radiation range, itis assumed that the user H performs an operation while the user viewsthe tool 2 b, and thus the operation is allowed to be performed. Thatis, a control such as a permission or a limitation of an operation isperformed on the condition that it is detected that the tool and themounting tool face each other within a certain range.

An example of such a mounting tool mounted on the body is various, andin addition to the above-described eyeglasses or badge, any shape such anecklace, a button, and a shirt can be adopted to be mounted on thebody.

In the attaching position of the mounting tool, the mounting tool ispreferably configured to be mounted on the head and the like positionedabove a neck of the body so as to be interlinked to a direction of theface, which is most suitable. From such a viewpoint, the mounting toolcan be configured to have a shape of the above-described eyeglassesmounted on the face, and shapes of a helmet, a hat, a headphone, aheadset, and a headband mounted on the head. Various shapes such as anearplug, an earring, a pierce, and an earphone mounted on an ear, amask, a nasal plug, and contact lens may be adopted.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given aboutan example in which a communication part is mounted on a tool body.However, the communication part may be provided in a peripheral deviceadjunct to the tool body. An example of such a peripheral deviceincludes an air hose, an air hose adapter, a battery, and a tool(battery) adapter. The communication part may be directly mounted on thetool or may be not mounted on the tool, and any shape can be adopted.The communication part may be configured to be provided in the air hose,and to limit the operation by controlling a valve. The communicationpart may be configured to be provided in a cut-off switch provided in apower cord, and to control the operation of the tool.

Additionally, the communication part may be provided in a glove, awatch, a band, a ring, and a sleeve of clothes which can be mounted neara hand holding the tool. In a case where the tool is a stationarydevice, the communication part may be provided in an operator panelthereof.

Additionally, in a method of communicating between the mounting tool andthe communication part on the tool side, in addition to theabove-described method in which the infrared rays are used as acommunication medium (to be described later), a method of using light,radio waves, and sound waves (ultrasound wave) as a wireless signalexcept the infrared rays also may be adopted without any problem.

Each communication medium is different in a directional characteristic,a size of output suitable for communication, and characteristic to beconsidered during communication, and thus it is necessary to give properconsideration to the mounting tool and the communication part on thetool side according to each communication medium. A limitation may beperformed in such a manner that the directional characteristic, signalstrength, and the like are set to be adjustable, or a correspondingmodel is set by selecting a frequency.

For example, in a case where radio waves are used as the communicationmedium, the directional characteristic can be adjusted by using a hornantenna having a high directional characteristic, a rod antenna or achip antenna having a low directional characteristic, and the like as atransmitter or a receiver.

In a case where the infrared rays are used as the communication medium,the directional characteristic can be adjusted by providing lens of thetransmitter and the receiver and a member (cylindrical one and the like)for limiting a range of emitting and condensing. The directionalcharacteristic can be adjusted also by changing the transmissionstrength and frequency together with the radio waves and the infraredrays.

The entire above-described example has a configuration that the mountingtool sends the infrared lays and the other signals including recognitioninformation, and the tool receives these signals to control whether tooperate. However, inversely with the aspect, a configuration may beadopted in which the communication is performed by providing a tool withthe transmission unit which sends the infrared lays and the othersignals including recognition information, and providing a mounting toolattached to the user's body with the reception unit which receives theinfrared lays and the other signals, and whether to operate iscontrolled based on the communication result thereof.

Another Embodiment

The tool such as the nail driving machine using air pressure orelectrical power as an operation source is easy to use due to lightweight which enables the tool to be operated with one hand, regardlessof high output. For this reason, it is easy to carry during the work.When the tool contacts a building material and the like except thedriving target object in the middle of carrying, the trigger lever is ina pulled state at that time, and there is a possibility that the tool isoperated erroneously. However, in a case where the handled tool iswithin the user's field of view, such an erroneous operation hardlyoccurs.

From such a viewpoint, the above-described shape of tool is configuredto be operable when a state where the tool is present within a certainrange in which the face or the front surface of the body is directed isassumed by the tool receiving the infrared signal sent by the mountingtool mounted on the user.

The essence of the above-described invention is to set a state aboutwhether the user views the tool as a condition of the tool operation.Therefore, when it is possible to directly perform the determination onwhether the user views the tool or not, such a unit may be used withoutany problem. For example, an image sensor such as CCD and CMOS ismounted in the tool, and the sight line of the user is detected frominformation of the captured image. In a case where it is determined thatthe user gazes a tool direction or a processed portion, the tool ispermitted to be operated, which is a configuration having no problem.

The head portion 17 of the above-described tool 2 may be provided withan imaging unit instead of the infrared receiver 10 or in addition tothe infrared receiver 10. The imaging unit captures an image or a videoby imaging the opposite direction to the nail injection direction fromthe head portion 17. The control unit (controller 6) of the tool 2analyzes the captured image or video to detect the presence of themounting tool, the face or the sight line of the user, and the like.When the tool 2 is configured as above, a control such as a permissionor a limitation of the operation of the tool 2 can be performed on thecondition that the imaging unit detects the face or the sight line ofthe user operating the mounting tool or the tool, and the like.

As another embodiment of the present disclosure, the imaging unit may beprovided in the above-described mounting tool 3 worn by the user. Inthis case, the imaging unit is disposed such that the mounting positionof the mounting tool 3 is properly set to capture an image or a videoaccording to a facial direction of the user or a posture of an upperbody. On the other hand, a mark and another identification mark whichare distinguishable by the analysis of the captured image or video aremounted in a position viewed from the head portion 17 of the tool 2 orthe imaging unit.

With such a configuration, the control unit (controller 12) of themounting tool 3 can alternatively determine whether the user faces adirection of the tool 2 by determining whether the above-describedidentification mark is present in the image or video captured by theimaging unit. By transmitting the determination result to the tool 2,the control unit (controller 6) of the tool 2 can perform a control suchas a permission or a limitation of the operation of the tool 2.

Recently, there have been developed various goggle-shaped (eyeglasses)wearable terminals mounted with a computer function. The wearableterminal includes an image sensor such as a small-sized CCD or CMOS,includes a CPU function which performs a process on various kinds ofinformation including the image obtained from the image sensor, and ismounted with a unit for displaying the image on the wearer's field ofview according to the usage. When using the wearable terminal, adirection of the sight line can be detected by detecting the motion ofeyes of the wearer, and information on what the wearer views can beobtained in real time by combination with the video captured by theimage sensor. When using the wearable terminal having such aconfiguration, in a case where the wearer views the tool mounted withthe identification mark registered in advance and the like, thepermission signal is transmitted to control the operation that permits(releasing of operation inhibition) the operation of the tool receivingthe permission signal.

In above-described embodiments, the opposing relation between the tooland the mounting tool is determined by using a signal transmission unitor an image recognition unit provided in one of the tool and themounting tool, and the limitation of the operation is performed when therelation is not in an opposing state or a state equivalent thereto. Asfor that, a detector provided externally unlike the tool and themounting tool may determine whether the tool and the mounting tool arein the opposing state to perform a limitation of the operation based onthe determination. For example, a camera as the externally provideddetector may image a state of the tool and the mounting tool, thecaptured video may be subject to an image process (and imagerecognition), and a limitation of the operation may be performed. In acase where the safety device is configured as above, it is desirable toperform the communication between the tool and the detector, and thus itis not necessary to perform the communication between the tool and themounting tool. Accordingly, it is not necessary that a mounting portionincludes a communication function, and thus a simple mounting portioncan be used so that an influence on a work can be reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been given abouta case where individual identification information is set to themounting tool 3. However, instead of the embodiment or in addition tothe embodiment, the individual identification information may be set tothe tool 2. In a case where the individual identification informationmay be set only to the tool 2, the mounting tool 3 performs theauthentication process on the tool 2, the result is transmitted to thetool 2, and a control such as a permission or a limitation of theoperation of the tool 2 can be performed. In a case where the individualidentification information may be set to both the tool 2 and themounting tool 3, both controllers authenticate the identificationinformation received from the other, and a control such as a permissionor a limitation of the operation of the tool 2 can be performed. In thiscase, without any problem, a control such as a permission or alimitation of the operation of the tool 2 can be performed when it isset as a determination condition whether the combination of theidentification information set in both the tool 2 and the mounting tool3 matches with a preset one.

The various above-described embodiments may be practiced with variouscombinations thereof. The invention is not limited to theabove-described embodiments, and various modifications can be madewithout departing from the scope of claims.

The present disclosure can be used to improve a safety of various toolssuch as a nail driving machine, a circular saw, and a grinder.

What is claimed is:
 1. A safety device configured to control a toolwhich performs a predetermined operation through an operation of anactuator, the safety device comprising: an imaging unit, provided to amounting tool worn by a user operating the tool, that is configured todetect, from an image or a video captured by the imaging unit, anidentification mark provided on the tool; and a controller that isconfigured to i) register unique identification information, includingthe identification mark, of the tool in the mounting tool, ii) determinewhether the identification mark is present in the image or the videocaptured by the imaging unit, and iii) transmit a determination resultto the tool that permits the tool to operate when the identificationmark is provided in the image or the video and when the uniqueidentification information of the tool is registered in the mountingtool.
 2. A safety device configured to control a tool which performs apredetermined operation through an operation of an actuator, the safetydevice comprising: a controller configured to control the tool on acondition that an imaging unit, which is provided to a mounting toolworn by a user operating the tool, captures an image or a video of thetool having an identification mark provided to the tool and uniqueidentification information including the identification mark, of thetool is registered in the mounting tool.
 3. A safety device configuredto control a tool which performs a predetermined operation through anoperation of an actuator, the safety device comprising: a controllerconfigured to i) determine whether an identification mark is present inan image or a video obtained by an imaging unit provided to a mountingtool worn by the user, and ii) control the tool based on thedetermination and based on unique identification information includingthe identification mark, of the tool being registered in the mountingtool.